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Shanghai Jahwa is the largest domestically owned Chinese manufacturer of cosmetics and personal care products. In recent years, it has been part of a booming market with growth rates of 35 per cent per year. This spectacular growth rate has attracted and been fuelled by the entry of major multinationals, including Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Shiseido, Kao, and others. The marketing challenge for Shanghai Jahwa is to carve out viable and defensible positions in the marketplace, in the face of competition from some of the most powerful global players in the industry. This case illustrates management issues relating to a successful brand of cream. The two main flagship products, the Maxam Tremella Pearl Cream and the Maxam Hand Cream, have evolved in very different directions. The Tremella Pearl Cream is still popular in rural areas and is considered a mainstay of rural cosmetic use. The Maxam Hand Cream, on the other hand, is primarily an urban brand which meets the need of urban women looking to soften their hands after they have been exposed to the cold and to detergents. However, in urban areas the brand is losing its appeal, as foreign competitors roll out their international brands and products. The challenge is to renew the Maxam brand without losing the loyal customers of Tremella Pearl Cream.

The owner of Jeffries Hardwood Flooring is examining whether his current production set-up can handle an increase in output. He will have to evaluate his operation: examine the production process and identify it appropriately; given data, calculate the capacities of each workstation; identify the capacity/production constraints and bottlenecks; and make recommendations. This exercise should be used after an introduction to process identification and process analysis.

Beijing Mirror Corporation owned the patent for a newly invented rearview mirror which eliminated the usual blind spot. At issue for the company was how to introduce the product to both the domestic and international markets. More specifically, should the company try to commercialize the technology independently, or via joint venture? Should they do so with a local or foreign company? What pricing, promotional and distribution approaches made sense? What is their resource position relative to these decisions?

A diversified global interests company, which is financed through medium and long-term loans, is preparing a US$1 billion bond offering. Students will have to figure the individual bond price, including the possible cost of the issue, while considering the receptiveness of the market, given the change in sovereignty over Hong Kong.

The senior officers of a national office supplies manufacturer and distributor are at odds over a slow payment, and perhaps insolvent, major distributor, and what the options are to collect the account and maintain sales in the region.

The managing director of health services company is becoming increasingly concerned about the state of leadership at the company's subsidiary. The source of the concern was the president of a wholly-owned subsidiary who had been instrumental in ensuring the very successful launch of the operation during its start-up. Since then, however, the president's behaviour had become increasingly problematic, to the point where he has become very disruptive to the operation. Therefore, it is necessary to craft a leadership development plan for him, or else face the unpleasant task of having to terminate him.

A bond portfolio manager is re-evaluating the funds position in government bonds. His team had attempted to take advantage of a mis-priced bond and was now in the process of re-examining the recent move in interest rates, the current shape of the yield curve, and the forecast for interest rate changes. This case introduces students to fundamental bond valuation and price change issues, including duration and convexity, as well as bond management styles.

The recently appointed human resource director must consider his next step in promoting the much needed restructuring of the companies they have acquired. In particular, he must consider whether a change process can be managed from outside the organization targeted for change.

A proposal to give all pharmacists computer database access to the prescription histories of all British Columbians was meeting stiff media criticism over privacy issues. While the Ministry of Health foresaw many benefits of the proposed Pharmanet to consumers, pharmacists, and government regulators, many others felt access to so much information would lead to misuse or abuse. With province-wide implementation only two months away, the Pharmanet project director had to decide what, if any, additional changes to the database system had to be made to ensure public support.

Palliser is a large, successful family-owned furniture manufacturer in Manitoba, Canada, that must respond to the increasingly global nature of its business. Its current business strategy, a product of international trade liberalization, is clearly centered on exports to the U.S. However, management perceives risks and limitations to growth with their current product/market position and must decide whether and how to change. Management is faced with a foreign entry mode decision in Mexico and/or China. This case is suitable for a course on international management, international marketing, or strategic management. (A three-minute video, 7A98M036 can be purchased with this case.)

A year had elapsed since Mabuchi Motor Co., Ltd. of Japan, the world's most successful producer of small electric motors, had implemented a new management training program at one of its foreign operations in China. The program had two objectives. First, it was intended to enable the corporation to maintain its strategy of cost minimization by making it possible to reduce Japanese expatriate levels by improving the management skills of local managers in foreign subsidiaries. Second, by overcoming the shortage of qualified Japanese managers, the program would also allow the continued aggressive expansion of production that had become a cornerstone of corporate strategy. The teaching purpose is to illustrate the difficulties associated with transferring a management style and corporate culture into a different national culture.

Chai-Na-Ta (Asia) Ltd. is the Hong Kong-based operating arm of Canada's Chai-Na-Ta Corporation, an integrated ginseng firm. The decision has been made to enter the mainland China market and the general manager must make decisions on the entry city, target market(s), product(s) focus, distribution and pricing. Although he has significant knowledge of the Hong Kong market, he is unsure of the degree to which this can be transferred to the mainland markets. The case pushes the student to develop a marketing strategy in a situation in which there is imperfect market information.

Lexmark Canada is the Canadian arm of Lexmark Inc., the global manufacturer of computer printers and related products. Lexmark Canada had reorganized its salesforce into teams of salespeople to manage regions of Canada. This was a fairly dramatic shift from an individual-based structure and compensation system. There was mixed reaction to the change with the Quebec team recently losing two of its three team members. The case addresses salesforce organization and deployment issues, and the factors that need to be considered in making these decisions. It also demonstrates the linkages between sales management decisions, since in this situation reward and recognition, recruitment and selection, and training all needed to be revisited. Finally, it highlights the current shift to team selling in many industries.

The note explains current Canadian financial accounting procedures for corporate income tax as well as the theoretical options that exist. It also considers permanent differences as well as timing differences that give rise to deferred income taxes. A short example is provided.

Canadian Tire's information warehouse has become the victim of its own success. Both the end-user and IT communities have become increasingly frustrated with interruptions in service. The data architect for the warehouse needs to decide what needs to be met, in what priority, and with what programs.

A major threat to the existence of the CAW is the trend towards outsourcing the production of components to non-unionized, hence lower-cost manufacturers, by the Big Three Automakers (GM, Ford and Chrysler). This trend is costing Canadian Automobile Workers Union (CAW) members their jobs. The typical retaliation is CAW strikes, and negotiating job security agreements. This short-term strategy in fact encourages the move to offshore production in order to remain competitive. The purpose of the case is to discuss issues concerning the evolution of the Canadian economy from one which is manufacturing-based to one based on services, and to try to find answers to questions like: Can the CAW survive? Will the Big Three be producing cars in Canada in the 21st Century? Where else would they go? What are the concerns in moving production off-shore? What kind of strategy should the CAW follow to ensure its survival? How does Canadian automobile production relate to the global industry? How will governments impact the industry?

From a strategic perspective, the Bank of Montreal, a major Canadian bank, has committed to entering the 'virtual banking' marketplace in Canada. There is also the potential to launch later in the USA and Mexico. They plan to do this in a preemptive fashion to gain first mover advantage. This means no extensive pilots and a short time to launch. The decision makers are charged with developing a complete launch strategy. They have two years of tentative ideas to work with, but a number of major decisions on product line, pricing, communications, salesforce, etc. are still to be made. The purpose of the case is to introduce students to the entire scope of marketing decisions to be made in such a situation, including fundamental decisions around targeting and positioning. It also drives students to make decisions in the face of incomplete information and short time horizons. To date, the case has been successfully used to set the stage for marketing management courses, and to kick off marketing management modules in executive development programs. (A nine-minute video can be purchased with this case, video 7A98A025.)

The new manager of the network installation coordination section had just met with her management team for the first time. The meeting did not go well as it appeared to have no direction, purpose, or resolutions. The new manager's successful history of process improvement management had prompted her move into the new position. She needed to mould the existing group into a functional team with common goals, objectives and purpose as quickly as possible. In order to accomplish this goal she must determine the factors leading to effective performance and to develop a course of action.

A buyer for Prism Canada, Inc. wondered how to outsource the company's inefficient sheet metal operation. To satisfy current and potential customers' requests to lower costs for up-coming contract bids, Donna had to decide quickly to whom to outsource and what criteria to use for choosing a supplier. The primary teaching objective is to take students through the supplier selection process, framed in an outsourcing context. Selection criteria, such as price, quality, and reputation and their relative importance will be examined. Other objectives include exploring the issues of implementing an outsourcing decision, keeping in mind employee concerns and union reactions, as well as impact on production operations. The case can be used at the beginning of a principals of buying course as an introduction to source selection.

For many decades, a high degree of political risk discouraged foreign investment in Latin America. Recent years have witnessed major changes in the nature and extent of Latin American country risks, with a dramatic reduction of political risks, and a new focus on economic risks. At the same time, there has been a vast opening up of investment opportunities where Canadian corporations can transfer modern technology and business practices that exceed the capabilities of domestic corporations, creating country- and industry-specific competitive advantages. However, Latin American countries still rank very poorly in the factors underlying international competitiveness, with the result that labor-intensive export facilities are more likely to be located elsewhere, in spite of Latin America's low wage levels.